As digitization of merchandise and Point-Of-Sales (“POS”) marketing evolves and the quest to learn more about shopper trends and demographics continues, retailers are looking to gather data streams from an integrated array of sensors and use enterprise or shelf-based analytics to enhance shopper experience.
As an example, RFID is typically used for item level identification. Wireless communications interactions with consumers are achieved via their mobile devices (e.g., using Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (“NFC”) and/or WiFi technology). Such wireless communications are being used extensively in retail stores seeking to gain more knowledge about the customer and their shopping trends.
By integrating a plurality of sensors into a smart electronic tag or shelf label, and allowing the customer to interact with the smart electronic label/tag, the customer can obtain much more information about the item they intend to purchase or peruse, while the enterprise gains additional knowledge about their customer.
There are several smart shelf systems containing electronic labels and electronic tags used to display information such as item description, pricing, SKU, store promotions, etc. These labels mainly use E-ink or LCD displays to indicate their item level information. Several big box retailers have begun to deploy and test the viability of such systems in an effort to manage price, promotions and various other item level information.